International Trader - Asia

Asian Woes Hit StanChart

Once envied for its emerging-markets business, the venerable London bank faces a big challenge amid takeover speculation.

How quickly fortunes change. Standard Chartered, the London-based bank focused on Asian emerging markets, avoided the worst of the financial crisis because it had no direct exposure to the U.S. or Europe. As its global peers struggled to stay afloat, StanChart marked its tenth consecutive year of profit growth. Now, however, with emerging markets everywhere flailing, StanChart is struggling so much it's become a subject of takeover speculation.

The first stumble came in December 2012, when the bank settled a New York state...